Snapshots
by Azkabella
Summary: A series of one-off drabbles of varying lengths inspired by three word prompts supplied by my tumblr followers. So far the Doctor and Clara have gone to Rome, had a picnic in the park, made a date for the theatre, and ended up on an ocean rig on their way to 1920's Paris.
1. Make a Wish

**Make a Wish**

_Fountains, Coins, Rome_

"If I knew you didn't like wine, I wouldn't have ordered a bottle for the table."

"I thought I did," the Doctor replied defensively with a shrug as he and Clara strolled along the streets of Rome after dinner.

Clara giggled and teetered a little to the side. The Doctor's eyes bulged as he struggled to right her before she fell over, and Clara clung to him with another giggle.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" she insisted. "The cobblestones don't agree with my new shoes."

"Yeah," the Doctor replied with a frown of frustration. "If I knew you were going to spend an hour trying on shoes, I wouldn't have taken you shopping."

"You brought me to 1950s Rome, Doctor. Of course I'm going to buy shoes and eat pasta and drink wine!"

Clara broke free from the Doctor and did a little twirl, her arms stretched up to the sky. She stopped with a gasp of awe when she stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain.

"Doctor, look," she said in a hushed voice.

Grinning, the Doctor shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and walked up beside her.

"It's pretty," she said simply as she stared at the illuminated marble sculptures and the trails of water that made the light dance all around them.

The Doctor was tempted to wrap his arm around her, but instead he pulled his hand from his pocket and held out two coins.

Clara grinned and took one of the hexagonal coins from his hand. "What are these coins from? They're not Lira."

The Doctor held up the coin in his hand and squinted at it in the light. "Oh, huh. I don't know. Looks like it's from the Acteon Galaxy."

They exchanged a glance and then shrugged before stepping towards the edge of the fountain. The Doctor flipped the coin between his fingers a few times before flicking it into the flickering waters of the fountain. With a grin, he turned to Clara, who cradled her coin to her lips and kissed it before tossing it underhand into the fountain.

"What did you wish for?" the Doctor asked curiously, almost suspiciously.

Clara grinned broadly and reached up to straighten his bow tie. The Doctor couldn't help but notice her proximity and fidgeted slightly as Clara met his eyes.

"If I told you that, then it wouldn't come true."

Their gazes remained locked together and for a moment, the Doctor forgot all about time. He was brutally reminded when a scream sounded in the distance. They both turned towards the source and then exchanged a panicked look.

"Did you wish for that?" Clara asked.

"No," he assured her.

"Hoped not."

Despite the situation, the Doctor grinned manically and grabbed Clara's hand before dragging her towards danger. Clara scrambled after her, panting between strangled cries of, "Shoes, Doctor. Shoes!"


	2. Uncanny Nannies

**Victorian Nannies**

_Musicals, Bunnies, Hair_

Clara stared incredulously at the two tickets in the Doctor's hand. "You want to go see _Mary Poppins_ on the West End?"

He beamed at her, nodding. "Yeah!"

Clara laughed. "Where did you even get the tickets?"

"From a friend. Owed me a favour… and a bunny rabbit. You wanna go?"

Clara sighed, smiling. "Why not? You do seem to have a thing for Victorian London."

The Doctor's posture stiffened, adding at least two inches to his height. "No, I don't. I just like musicals."

She decided not to press the subject. "When's the show start?"

The Doctor tapped the tip of her nose with the tickets and smiled. "Whenever you are ready. Time machine, remember?"

Clara half-laughed, half-scoffed in response. "I'll just be ten minutes. You're the one who spends half an hour fussing over your hair in the mirror."

The Doctor's jaw dropped as Clara slipped passed him towards her room. "I… I do not!" he called after her.

He immediately checked his reflection in the console monitor to make sure it wasn't off before standing up straight and frowning in the direction she'd disappeared in.

"Victorian nannies…"


	3. Dejeuner sur l'herbe

**Dejeuner sur l'herbe**

_Picnic, Family, Basket_

The Doctor arrived at the Maitland house late one Wednesday morning in June and was surprised when no one answered the door. Naturally he suspected foul play, that is until he heard paper crunching beneath his feet and found a small yellow post-it attached to the sole of his shoe.

_Doctor,_

_We're having a picnic in the park. Come join us!_

_-Clara_

The Doctor smiled at the post-it and quickly made his way towards the park near their house. He scanned the area for a group of three or four but was surprised to find Clara sitting on a blanket by herself, sipping a box of apple juice through a straw.

He sat next to her with a comfortable distance between them and stretched his long legs out on the blanket. "This feels a bit like a trick."

Clara sighed and managed not to roll her eyes. "Mr Maitland remembered that Angie and Artie had to register for the new term at school and took them home to get ready."

"Ah. Time for school already?"

"Yes, August's almost over. I guess I should stop expecting you to have some concept of time."

"I have a concept of time, it's just more complicated that yours. Ooh, are those brownies?"

Clara nodded and the Doctor pulled a chocolate square from the container inside the basket and hummed in contentment as he took the first bite.

They sat in silence for a while, the sounds of birds singing and children shouting from the playset nearby filling the air.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"If you were to have children, would they be Time Lords?"

Reluctantly, the Doctor glanced over at Clara to find her gazing distractedly at a young couple sitting on a bench near the playground. The young man had a boy of about two or three in his lap and the woman was tying back the hair of a girl who looked about five or six.

"No, they would be human. For the most part. Why do you ask?" he added carefully.

"Just curious," she replied, still watching the family. "All that stuff you say about being the last of your kind… I just wondered if maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

With a sigh, Clara shook herself from her reverie and turned to face the Doctor. "I don't know. Maybe things could change."

Their eyes met and the Doctor felt something tighten in his chest. Panicking at this sudden onset of emotion, he quickly calculated the number of steps between here and the TARDIS.

"There are biscuits also."

"Biscuits!" the Doctor replied delightedly before dipping his hand into the basket.

The subject didn't come up again after the day in the park, although there were times the Doctor could almost feel Clara thinking about the family at the bench. It was usually whenever they were holding hands.


	4. The Game is Rigged

**The Game is Rigged**

_Tight Dress, Teasing, Staring_

Clara adjusted her skirt for the fifth time since they arrived on the rig and groaned with annoyance. Her breath formed a billowing white cloud in the cold and she thought of Paris in the twenties and the date she could have had with Hemingway or the Fitzgeralds. She sat on the edge of the scaffolding that jutted out a good hundred meters over the ocean and stared out at the billowing black sea that rippled like living glass under the moonlit sky.

As cold and miserable as she was that the TARDIS had brought them to an oil rig instead of the Champs Elysees, Clara couldn't help but find it beautiful.

"Ah! There you are. You ran off."

The Doctor's footsteps rattled on the metal steps that led to where she sat, her feet dangling over the edge as she rested her arms on the metal railing that separated her from a deathly fall into the ocean.

"I was overwhelmed by the testosterone. I don't see how you blokes can take it."

The Doctor took a seat next to Clara and cast a sideways glance at her. "Aren't you scared? Sitting up here."

"Never really had a big fear of heights. Why - are _you _scared?" she asked with a smirk.

"No," he replied primly, sitting up straight and throwing back his shoulders.

Clara chuckled and hugged herself. The Doctor frowned and removed his coat.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You're going to freeze to death in that thing," he said placing the coat over her shoulders.

She was suddenly enveloped in the warmth of his body that had soaked into the lining of his coat, which smelled of sweat and… whiskey?

The Doctor shivered loudly and rubbed his hands together before cupping them in front of his mouth and blowing hot air onto them. Clara stared at him curiously.

He nearly launched himself off the rig when she leaned in close to his mouth. "Clara!"

She tried not to smile at his reaction as she sniffed. "Have you been drinking?"

"What? No!" he replied, his cheeks bright red. The Doctor straightened his bow tie and then muttered a little 'ah' as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, no - yes. I did have a whisky with the rig leader. He wanted to talk about the weird creatures his crewmen kept seeing."

"Ah," Clara replied. Mystery solved. "Did he have any explanation for it?"

"No, not really. He just kept drinking whisky and…" The Doctor cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What?"

"You have to understand, Clara - they've been on this project for months with very little time off. You're the first woman they've seen in ages."

"Ugh! What did he say? More importantly what did _you _say?" she added accusingly.

The Doctor shrugged defensively, both hands in the air. "He liked your dress! That's all."

"Mmhmm. And how did he phrase this compliment on my wardrobe?"

"Well… you know…" the Doctor began, relaxing as he cast his gaze out onto the water surrounding them. "He might've mentioned it was a bit… tight."

"Ugh. Pig."

"That's what I said."

"Is it?"

"No, I agreed with him. It's ridiculously tight for 1920s Paris."

Clara smacked him the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Says the man who wears the same jacket and bowtie everywhere and everywhen we go!" Clara sniffed the shoulder. "I'm surprised it doesn't smell worse."

The Doctor rubbed his shoulder and frowned. Silence fell between them, but was quickly filled by the sound of the rig creaking as the waves of the ocean crashed into it. Clara started chuckling.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Did you really think I was going to kiss you?"

He opened his mouth to reply and Clara couldn't help it; she tossed back her head and laughed.


End file.
